The M35 is the entry-level M, and it comes with a V-6 engine and rear-wheel drive. Last year's 275-hp VQ35 V-6 engine has been replaced with the HR (high-revving) version of the VQ. Displacing the same 3.5 liters, the VQ35HR produces 303 hp and 262 lb-ft of torque.
Now that the M35's V-6 makes only a few fewer ponies than the V-8-powered Infiniti M45, you might think that the eight-cylinder M is obsolete. Not so much - this is the Infiniti I would buy. The 2009 Infiniti M45's 4.5-liter V-8 makes 74 lb-ft of additional torque, for a total of 336 lb-ft compared with the M35's 262 lb-ft. Much, much more important: whereas the V-6 is buzzy and coarse at high rpm, the V-8 is one of the best-sounding, smoothest V-8s on the planet.